Bhoja Air Flight 213 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Pakistani airline Bhoja Air. On 20 April 2012, the Boeing 737-236 aircraft, flying from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, crashed in bad weather during its approach to Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad. There were 121 passengers and six crew on board who all died in the crash.

The accident aircraft was a Boeing 737-236, registration AP-BKC,msn 23167. The aircraft first flew on 13 December 1984 and served with British Airways and Comair. The aircraft was purchased from Shaheen Air, which also operates a fleet of similar aircraft.

All but one of the victims were Pakistani citizens. The only foreign victim was the American woman Sarah Chughtai. On board were 110 adults, six children, five infants and six crew-members which makes Total 127 people that crashed into a muddy wheat field Friday while trying to land in a violent thunderstorm at Islamabad's main airport Emergency workers with flashlights searched the smoldering wreckage of a passenger jet carrying.

Investigations into the accident were opened by the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAAP) and by the Safety Investigation Board of Pakistan. Boeing is assisting the CAAP with the investigation.

Aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled flight from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, to Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, which was the airline's inaugural flight on this route. There were six crew and 121 passengers (including 11 children) on board.The flight departed from Karachi at 17:00 local time (12:00 UTC) and was due to land at Islamabad at 18:50 (13:50 UTC). At 18:40, the aircraft crashed 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) short of its destination,near the village of Hussain Abad. Eyewitnesses stated that the aircraft may have been struck by lightning prior to the crash, describing a "ball of fire." All 127 people on board were killed.The landing was attempted during heavy rain and a thunderstorm.

The airport was closed for three hours after the accident due to a lack of fire cover.  The emergency crews based at the airport went to the crash site to assist in the firefighting operations there. Flights affected by the closure were diverted to Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore. As the crash occurred in a residential area, there may be more casualties on the ground.

It was the second-deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan, behind the 2010 crash of Airblue Flight 202 which killed all 152 on board and the fourth deadliest involving the Boeing 737-200 series.
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This Next News reported that There were conflicting reports on the number of passengers. While some said there were 118 passengers and nine crew members on board, other reports said more than 130 people were on the plane.

Geo News said the Boeing 737 had 129 passengers on board, including 57 women, 55 men, 11 children and six crew members. The plane took off from Karachi at 5pm and was supposed to land in Islamabad at 6.50pm, but crashed just before touchdown.

At least 110 bodies have been recovered from the crash site.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the crash was apparently due to bad weather.

Eyewitnesses said the plane was already ablaze when it was descending.

According to reports, the plane was was struck by lightning, as heavy rain, accompanied by thunder storm and hail was lashing the capital at the time of the crash, which occurred about 6.40 p.m.

The airplane's flight data recorder (Black Box) was recovered.

According to rescuers, the wreckage area - around one sq km - was scattered with mangled bodies, severed body parts, burnt luggage, shoes, jewellery and parts of the fuselage strewn all over.

Saifur Rehman, from a police rescue team, said the plane came down in Hussain Abad village, two miles from the main Islamabad highway.

Sources in the CAA said the flight was given clearance to land at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport but it lost contact with the control tower minutes before the crash.

"Fire erupted after the crash. The wreckage was on fire, the plane is completely destroyed. We came with teams of firefighters and searchlights and more rescuers are coming," Rehman told Geo television.

The plane fell on top of houses in the village toppling building before hitting the ground, said eyewitnesses, but there were no reports of people in the village dying.

Of the 110 bodies recovered, 50 have been sent to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and the remaining bodies sent to two other hospitals in Islamabad, where grieving relatives and authorities were trying to identify the bodies.

According to Samaa TV, Bhoja Air and PIA have announced to take at least one relative of each crash victim from Karachi to Islamabad on special flights.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and ordered investigation into the incident, Geo News reported.

Bhoja Airlines had reportedly bought over 27-year-old aircraft from Shaheen Airlines after it was scrapped by the latter for its compromised flight-worthiness, Geo News said.

Bhoja Airline officials have not commented.

Geo News said that Bhoja Air relaunched its domestic operations with a fleet of five 737s in March and was planning to start flights connecting Karachi, Sukkur, Multan, Lahore and Islamabad.

Sources: Source: Yahoo, My Next News, Youtube, and wikipedia. catch4all.com, Sandra Englund, , April 20, 2012